PI SCOOP ... SAMSUNG LOOKING TO EXPAND D.C. FOOTPRINT: Electronic giant Samsung is looking to expand its Washington presence and is considering opening a D.C. office, according to a PI tipster. A headhunter has been making calls around town on possible names to go in-house for the company, which is embroiled in litigation with Apple.

The company spent $60,000 on lobbying during the first half of 2012 and has had Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Akerman Senterfitt lobby on its behalf, according to Senate lobbying records. Although Akerman Senterfitt filed a second-quarter termination filing and Akin Gump reported no activity during the second quarter.

HALLOWEEN PARTY PROMISES BIPARTISAN FRIGHT AND DELIGHT: A who’s who of influence industry pros are throwing what’s bound to be one hell of a Halloween party at 8 p.m. Oct. 27 at the Hill Country Live Stage in D.C.’s Chinatown. Sully Erna of Godsmack will be on hand with a backing band to perform “original music as well as covers of America’s greatest classic rock songs.”

We caught up with several notable players in the political influence arena to get their take on what the candidates didn’t say — and what they think they should have said — for this post-debate edition of PI:

Scott Thomas, former Democratic Federal Election Commission chairman and head of Dickstein Shapiro’s political law practice: “It’s a very awkward thing for either of them to talk about. But there’s a good chance the reform community is going to push very hard to get someone to ask them about it” during the next two debates.

David Keating, president of the Center for Competitive Politics: “It would have been a great opportunity for President Obama to say he opposes the efforts to amend the First Amendment. It would also have been great to hear him say he supports the rights of unions and nonprofit corporations to speak to nonmembers about who to vote for, or against. I would have liked to hear Mitt Romney say he would appoint judges who would support the First Amendment.”

Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen: “The dominant fact of this campaign has been the torrent of big money and the Citizens United-enabled flood of outside money. The candidates should have been pressed to comment on this reality and the policy responses they advocate, if any. Jim Lehrer should have asserted himself in the debate and insisted on a comment on these issues.”

Meredith McGehee, policy director for the Campaign Legal Center: “[N]either candidate is eager to use an answer to address these issues because they are both vulnerable and both up to their eyeballs in a system awash with money. Either could have turned a response on gridlock or partisanship into a point about a system in Washington where special-interest money thrives on gridlock. But alas, neither really wants to draw attention to this part of the system as they are raising money hand over fist from these interests.”

Mary Boyle, vice president for communications at Common Cause: “So far many of the problems talked about — the economy, banks, the deficit, health care costs, tax breaks for oil companies, exist because of the stranglehold that special interests have on the legislative and regulatory processes, [a] stranglehold they have gained through donations and political spending. None of this will change ‘til we change the way we pay for politics.”

Robert Lenhard, former Democratic FEC chairman and counsel for Covington & Burling’s election and political law practice: “With the difficult economic times we are going through, focusing on jobs, access to affordable health care and education seemed the most relevant domestic policy concerns for most Americans. These far outweigh campaign finance reform as a topic of concern for all but policy wonks and zealots.”

Michael Toner, former Republican FEC chairman and Wiley Rein election law and government ethics co-chairman: No comment given the lack of discussion, but added, “Perhaps we will have a chance to comment on campaign finance issues at the next debates.”

OH, BUT THERE WAS PLENTY OF FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY BEFORE AND AFTER: Immediately before taking the stage in Denver, both Obama and Romney themselves leveraged the debates to raise money for their campaigns.

“Before tonight’s debate, will you chip in $5 or more to help finish this campaign strong?” Obama asked supporters by email, providing a link to do so.

Meanwhile, Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan emailed backers that “Barack Obama doesn’t have a record to run on, or a plan for the future. We do — and that’s why we want this debate.” Ryan concluded, “Donate now to help us put our plan into action and get America working again.”

After the debate, Obama wrote supporters with another fundraising pitch, saying, “I hope I made you proud out there explaining the vision we share for this country.” Meanwhile, Ryan and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) blasted out post-debate solicitations Wednesday night, with Romney following up this morning: “Victory is in sight — and with your help, we'll get there. Donate now to help us win this,” he writes.

COUPLE SHOUT-OUTS FOR LOBBYING POWERHOUSES: While neither Romney nor Obama spoke specifically about the lobbying industry, Romney did cite an assertion about jobs made by the National Federation of Independent Business, which in recent years has spent anywhere between $2 million and $6.5 million annually lobbying the federal government, federal records show. Ogilvy Government Relations is the main outside firm it’s hired this year to lobby on its behalf. The federation’s political action committee, meanwhile, donates almost exclusively to Republicans and has contributed to dozens of federal GOP candidates this cycle.

Obama, meanwhile, offered props to the AARP regarding its stance on Medicare savings. While it has no PAC, the nation’s largest organization for older Americans has typically spent around $20 million annually — give or take a few million bucks — on federal lobbying efforts that span the Quinn Gillespie & Associates, Williams & Jensen and TKB Global Strategies are among the lobbying firms that have this year done work for the association.

Throw back some vodkaon this Thursday, PI faithful, as it was 55 years ago today that the Soviet Union launched Sputnik — humanity’s first artificial satellite — and, for all intents and purposes, kicked off a space race with the United States that’d culminate with the first moon landing in 1969.

Don’t be a space cadet: Send us your best tip, hint, suggestion, fundraising invitation and the like to dlevinthal@politico.com and apalmer@politico.com. Please follow us o Twitter, too, where our handles are @apalmerdc and @davelevinthal. And be sure to check out the full PI archive, found here: http://bit.ly/GXndua

Thanks for reading, and now, back to the day’s top influence industry news …

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME: Several politicos played hooky from work Wednesday afternoon to take in the last regular season Nats game of the year. Spotted in the crowd: Mike Smith of Cornerstone Government Affairs, Sean Kennedy of A4A, PaulThornell of Citigroup, Jeff Forbes and Jay Driscoll of Forbes-Tate, Paul Thornell of Citigroup, Doug Thornell of SKDKnickerbockerJamie Houton of Union Pacific, Tom Nagle with Accenture, Kevin Richards of Tech America, Josh Alkin of Major League Baseball and David Thomas of Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti.

COVINGTON & BURLINGTON HIRES EU POLICY ADVISOR:Paul Adamson, a leader in European public affairs, has joined Covington & Burling as senior policy adviser. Adamson will be based in the firm’s Brussels office and will work with the global government affairs team. He worked for the European Parliament and later founded Adamson Associates, which advises clients on legislation and policy matters in the European Union.

FOR YOUR CALENDAR: The FEC will conduct a “Winding Down the Campaign Roundtable/Webinar” from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 14 at its 999 E St. NW headquarters. On the agenda: covering the rules for retiring or settling campaign debt, helping navigate the filing of post-general election reports and assistance in helping “terminate your campaign committee.” It’s $25 to attend in person, $15 to join in online. Registration details: http://1.usa.gov/QTrKTw

GRASSROOTS CAMPAIGN FIRM HIRES NEW FIELD DIRECTOR:Dave Herrero has joined The Locust Street Group, a grassroots campaign firm, as its new national field director. Herrero has experience working on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide to a senior member of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, where he helped manage policy on immigration, visa reform, agriculture, among other issues. He has also worked for the Council on Foreign Relations as a research associate on Latin America.

AUDIO … PI ON THE AIRWAVES: Dave recaps the presidential debate with John Zach and Susan Rose of WBEN-AM 930 in Buffalo, N.Y. Listen in: http://bit.ly/SJvxzw

ELSEWHERE IN THE INFLUENCE WORLD:

— Tim Kaine’s campaign announced it raised $4.5 million this quarter, reports Julie Sobel of National Journal. http://bit.ly/PzopVm

— First Lady Michelle Obama has raised at least $17.5 million for the president’s campaign, reports Niall Stanage of The Hill. http://bit.ly/UgiCf7

— Congress might be on recess, but lawmakers are in and out of D.C. for fundraisers, reports Kate Ackley of Roll Call. http://bit.ly/VkIe9K

— The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is expanding its ad buys to more districts, reports Reid Wilson of National Journal. http://bit.ly/T3oOFD

NEW POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE FILINGS:

Democratic Data PAC of Gilbert, Ariz. — Treasurer: Thomas P. Barnett

NEW LOBBYING REGISTRATIONS: (Firm: Client)

Aronnax Public Strategies LLC: Pueblo of San Felipe

Bates Capitol Group Inc.: LG&E and KU Energy LLC

Capitol Ventures Government Relations LLC: The Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma

Fleet Street Group: xCel Energy

Michael Salgaller: Fabiani & Company on behalf of Aura BioSciences

Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough LLP: Truven Health Analytics

Qorvis Communications LLC: Thomas Liu

Tarplin Strategies LLC: Alegeus Technologies

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About The Author

Anna Palmer is a senior Washington correspondent for POLITICO and co-author of POLITICO’s Playbook, the most indispensable morning newsletter for the biggest influencers in politics.

Anna covers the world of Congress and politics, and has successfully chronicled the business of Washington insiders for years. Her stories take readers behind the scenes for the biggest fights in Washington as well as the 2016 election.

Prior to becoming POLITICO’s senior Washington correspondent, Anna was the co-author of the daily newsletter, POLITICO Influence, considered a must-read on K Street.

Anna previously covered House leadership and lobbying as a staff writer for Roll Call. She got her start in Washington journalism as a lobbying business reporter for the industry newsletter Influence. She has also worked at Legal Times, where she covered the intersection of money and politics for the legal and lobbying industry, first as a staff writer and then as an editor.

A native of North Dakota, Anna is a graduate of St. Olaf College, where she was executive editor of the weekly campus newspaper, the Manitou Messenger. She lives in Washington, D.C.

About The Author

Dave Levinthal reports on political influence issues for POLITICO. Before joining POLITICO, Dave worked for two years as editor of OpenSecrets.org at the Center for Responsive Politics, where he oversaw the Center's original journalism and provided analysis to hundreds of television, radio and print news outlets.

Between 2003 and 2009, Dave reported on Dallas City Hall for The Dallas Morning News, and from 2000 to 2002, covered the New Hampshire Statehouse for the Lawrence (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune. He graduated from Syracuse University with degrees in newspaper journalism and political philosophy and edited The Daily Orange.

Some may argue, but there is no more dedicated Bills fan than this Buffalo, N.Y., native.